NBA Playoff Picks - 4/29/14

Well, the tides must be turning because last night Marco and I earned our first half point cover when our top confidence pick - San Antonio (-3.5) - pulled out the extremely late back door, free throw cover,  beating the Dallas Mavericks by four. Well I say it's about freakin' time. Sadly, I caught the line at -4.5 when I placed my wager, so I'll just put our published pride in my bank account and find out on the first if that's good enough for rent. Here's where we stand through Monday Night:

2014 NBA Playoff Record to Date: 18-15 ATS

Top Confidence Picks: 5-3 ATS



It's a busy day over here in this living room operation, so let's get right to today's NBA action. The winner's of Game 5 have most often gone on to win the best of 7 series - especially when they're already up 3-1. That's a math joke for Bulls fans. In Oklahoma City and Los Angeles, the Thunder and the Clippers look to take advantage of home cookin' and push the Grizz and the Warriors to the brink of elimination. We're not sure who's going to win the games, but we have a good idea of who's going to cover.

So far in 2014 we've had some of the best playoff basketball top to bottom that the NBA has ever seen. Gone are the days of a clear-cut favorite to come out of a series let alone a conference. Although Miami still looks to be the team to bet on in the East, we could see both Brooklyn and Toronto giving them trouble in the next round. As for the West, your guess is as good as ours.


Washington Wizards (+4.5) over CHICAGO BULLS: We've been backing the Bulls all series, waiting for their vaunted defense to allow them to jump out to a lead they can hold onto. Turns out there is no magic number safe enough as the young, upstart Wizards have been playing as loose and fast as some of my ex-girlfriends - and similarly coming out on top. Chicago may have a prayer to send this series back to Washington, but we don't think it's a 5+ point prayer. Take the points and if you're a Chicago fan well...I hope you like the White Sox. How about that Jose Abreu kid, huh?

  
"That's hilarious. I love math jokes."

Memphis Grizzlies (+6.5) over OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER: When three of four games have gone to overtime, you'd be a fool not to take the points. That's all we have to say on this one. Oklahoma City was fortunate to get back home with a series tie, but may not be as fortunate to leave home with one. That's a math joke for everyone. Take the points.



Golden State Warriors vs LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS - OVER 210: Sorry, we can't pick for or against our Warriors in this one, so we're taking the side door approach and going with a total. The home team is 5-1 ATS in the last six meetings in this series and the Warriors are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 visits to L.A, so that doesn't look promising. The OVER, however, is 6-1 in the last 7 in L.A. and 10-3 in the last 13 overall. We'll roll with the OVER and hope the Warriors can pull the upset, too.



Top confidence Pick: We'll roll with MEMPHIS (+6.5) and put a side wager on a fourth overtime game.

May the Spreads Be with Us All,

Vinny and Marco